FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142  
143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   >>   >|  
so plainly the first time Missy had worn it. She could see the pretty, delicately tinted face, the big shining brown eyes, and the riotous golden curls under the drooping, lace-edged brim. Oh, where was Missy now? What roof sheltered her? Did she ever think of her mother and the little white cottage under the maples, and the low-ceilinged, dim room where she had knelt to say her childhood's prayer? Camilla Clark came that afternoon. "Oh, it is lovely here," she said gratefully, looking out into the rustling shade of the maples. "I'm sure I shall soon get well here. Mrs. Barry was so kind to me--I shall never forget her kindness--but the house is so close to the factory, and there was such a whirring of wheels all the time, it seemed to get into my head and make me wild with nervousness. I'm so weak that sounds like that worry me. But it is so still and green and peaceful here. It just rests me." When bedtime came, Mrs. Falconer took Camilla up to Missy's room. It was not as hard as she had expected it to be after all. The wrench was over with the putting away of Missy's things, and it did not hurt the mother to see the frail, girlish Camilla in her daughter's place. "What a dear little room!" said Camilla, glancing around. "It is so white and sweet. Oh, I know I am going to sleep well here, and dream sweet dreams." "It was my daughter's room," said Mrs. Falconer, sitting down on the chintz-covered seat by the open window. Camilla looked surprised. "I did not know you had a daughter," she said. "Yes--I had just the one child," said Mrs. Falconer dreamily. For fifteen years she had never spoken of Missy to a living soul except her husband. But now she felt a sudden impulse to tell Camilla about her, and about the room. "Her name was Isabella, after her father's mother, but we never called her anything but Missy. That was the little name she gave herself when she began to talk. Oh, I've missed her so!" "When did she die?" asked Camilla softly, sympathy shining, starlike, in her dark eyes. "She--she didn't die," said Mrs. Falconer. "She went away. She was a pretty girl and gay and fond of fun--but such a good girl. Oh, Missy was always a good girl! Her father and I were so proud of her--too proud, I suppose. She had her little faults--she was too fond of dress and gaiety, but then she was so young, and we indulged her. Then Bert Williams came to Lindsay to work in the factory. He was a handsome
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142  
143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Camilla
 

Falconer

 

mother

 

daughter

 

shining

 
pretty
 
maples
 

factory

 
father
 

husband


living

 

spoken

 
looked
 

chintz

 
covered
 

sitting

 
dreams
 
dreamily
 

window

 

surprised


fifteen

 

suppose

 

faults

 

gaiety

 

handsome

 

Lindsay

 

Williams

 

indulged

 

called

 

Isabella


sudden

 
impulse
 

sympathy

 

starlike

 

softly

 
missed
 

peaceful

 
childhood
 

prayer

 
ceilinged

cottage
 

afternoon

 
rustling
 
lovely
 

gratefully

 

tinted

 
delicately
 

plainly

 
riotous
 

sheltered